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Deep inside our brains is an ocean of memories, emotions, and feelings that can be unlocked by the correct application of sights, smells, and sounds. Without warning, the theme song of a childhood cartoon or the smell of that one aisle in the corner store by your house can teleport you to another time. It might feel like magic, but nostalgia is a very real phenomenon. 

The “Nostalgia” Instagram account is pretty self-explanatory, showcasing content that should be like a healthy blast from the past, both funny and relatable. So prepare for a little trip in time, upvote the images that unlocked some memories, and share your thoughts in the comment section below. 

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Because nostalgia focuses so much on memories of how things used to be, both real and imagined, it’s important to keep track of what is a cherished memory and what is a specific, focused-tested set of concepts put together to evoke a specific memory. As cynical as it might seem, politicians, movements and advertisers are all wise to the idea of nostalgia as a method to manipulate people. 

The “return to the good, old days” is a common promise for many politicians, and many products will try to associate themselves with potential consumers’ childhoods. Little reminders of childhood do often come with a comforting wave of emotions, just make sure that you don’t let people hijack it to sell you anything. 

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That being said, it is a real and verifiable fact that nostalgia can provide a good amount of comfort through times of sadness and uncertainty. Psychologists believe that in certain “doses,” it’s actually pretty important to our mental health. Think of it this way, when current circumstances don’t provide joy, your brain has this nifty little ability to just reach into the past and scoop up things that made you happy before. There might be diminishing returns, but hey, it’s a start. 

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Mr.G86
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I think I was 5 the 1st time my dad left me to go out for a bit. Not only did he come back, but he brought McDonald's and some movies from blockbuster. I'm holding back tears typing this. 🤣

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To maintain the metaphor of nostalgia-as-medication, it is possible to “take” too much. After all, if you feel the past was too good, you might end up longing just to return instead of focusing on the present. The Germans, as always, have a term for this, called “Sehnsucht,” which you can now use as a complicated and pretentious way to talk about longing, desire, yearning, and craving.

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Mr.G86
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Priorities for a 90s kids was definitely on another level kids nowadays won't be able to comprehend.

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The origin of “Sehnsucht” (capitalized because the Germans capitalize every noun) is “suffering,” which is ultimately what someone would probably feel if they have trapped themselves in the thought that things will never be as good as they used to be. However, some psychologists believe that over time, this emotion can help a person start to develop and plan out the steps to actually improve things. 

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Lady Snowfall
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ah yes, the shin shredders. If your foot slipped off of one of those puppies, it was immediate blood and pain and bandaids and getting your leg doused in hydrogen peroxide and triple bac.

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SpaceFrog
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had professors still using these in college in 2005...and I'm realizing that's almost 20 years ago after typing that and I'm old, boooh.

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Once you realize the potential of tapping into the past to draft people’s emotions, you might start to see how it’s used everywhere. You might notice that the Instagram logo is, in fact, a drawing of a Polaroid, despite the fact that 99% of the userbase are probably using a smartphone. But somehow, an old camera seems more special and emotional than the many, smaller and often more powerful cameras we carry in our pockets every day. 

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Molly Whuppie
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

scholastic books. it was so exciting when the books arrived!

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TonyTee
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Up until 6th grade for me, and remember the “book fairs” would be held in the school gymnasium

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Diamond_Ocelot6
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9 months ago

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Lady Snowfall
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They still do this, through scholastic. My kids bring them home about once a semester..

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LocalLizard3
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They still do this? My younger family members still bring these home.

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Rupp
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was so lucky and didn't know it at the time. I got to order $20 worth of books each time, basically all of them that I wanted. My order was always the biggest. Loved to read and it gave me an appetite for learning that made me very successful in life.

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Coy DeLaCruz
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

..I always had the biggest order too that's why I would get so excited when the box came...Third and Fourth grades especially....I became a teacher with a Masters degree in education...🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

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Mr.G86
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I loved that even tho I sent them a cut out of the book I wanted instead of filling out the order sheet, they still sent me what I had chosen. God bless you guys.

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S WO
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The paper would somehow start to recycle itself in your backpack, leaving you with shreds to decipher with your Mom....

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CheshirePhrogg
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No! This isn't the book fair (although those were awesome) this is one of the some how double side printed tissue paper thin book order forms. Color came off in your hands were oddly indestructible and great for silly putty!

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Zelda Fitzgerald
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Aww I remember getting this Spy Kit that came with a book, invisible ink, a spy ear thing with s****y headphones and a couple other lil gadgets. Those were the days!

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Aitsuki Kitsune
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember loving the little catalog, but rarely getting to order books. I was so sad every time I didn't get any and my class received theirs. I loved to read, and my parents couldn't afford to keep up with my appetite for new books.

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John Fowler
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The smell of new books when the box is first opened is still my favorite!

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Michelle C
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was that one that would pester my mother regularly to please get me more than the allowed limit every year!!

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Bron
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Scholastic still exists and kids today still get the opportunity. Now they also have book fairs and Book Week involving a dress up day with prizes

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Rosecrucian Roeth
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I will never forget the feeling of looking forward to the arrival of your book order at school and then it arriving......better than anything I have ever experienced since!!!

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Lisa Anne
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always ordered as many as my mom would let me. Still have my Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

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ZombieRedfox
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We always looked forward to getting these and going to the book fairs at school.

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Amy T
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Remember how they smelled???!!! Oh, how I love that smell.

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Mel The Axolotl
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I loved the book fair. One year my mom volunteered and so I got to stay there the whole time and I was a hell of a bookworm so it was like heaven

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Chris D'Asta
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I want that Dune book! I don't care what anyone says I love that film.

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JessieJ&LilyLovebug
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9 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There are a lot of Dune books. Also, which movie adaptation are you talking about? There are at least three.

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Mike Koog
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now you can't even get one without a story about a boy wanting to become a girl

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Arrien
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I loved them as a kid....I was soooo looking forward for them for my boys....=(

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Dawnieangel76
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to love reading. These days, I just can't stop & focus on just one thing. Right now, I'm reading BP, watching a video on YouTube, and playing Hay Day all at once.

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Ambry Petersen
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ahhh and the old book fairs. Sigh so much has been lost to time.

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Potato Whisperer
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Still have some of my book fair books. I went to my kids book fairs the last few years, and it just wasn't the same.

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Ray Arani
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or making a list of books from those magazines to get at the library because we weren't upper middle class lol

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Tracey Hall
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My grand daughter still can do this. She loves bringing it home and trying to get her parents to allow her to buy a book.

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Abby Rexroth
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now I order digital ones, receive them in seconds and can read them on my phone...so anticlimactic....

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Lee Justice
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Who remembers OTHER kids ordering books in school? Not me, no money. Used the library instead, but the library didn't have cool new books, just old ones.

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peithecelt
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Okay so even my kid is in their last year of being a teen, but at least a decade ago they still do this at some schools, and my kid loved it too...

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Cooking Panda
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I spent a lot of money renting books from private libraries. That used to be a thing back in early 2000s

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Natalie O!
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It still exists, but is no fun now with online ordering. Teachers and schools prefer it online for quickness and more cash to them. I had no idea. Sent my kid to school with a $20 bill! He wasn't allowed to shop!!! They don't shop!!! You guys? What the heck!

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Amberlie Mikelsen
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had nearly the full collection of Goosebumps thanks to those! Then my sister stole them and sold them...

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brittany
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i could never afford the actual books but i loved taping the pictures to my journal and wishing i had them

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Let’s roll
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh my!!!!!! I had completely forgotten. The catalogue just brought me right back to sitting on the carpet in the lower juniors (7 years old).

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JayWantsACat
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Was R.I.F. the program where you got to pick a book for free each year?

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Nykky
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I got into books too late, unfortunately. Fortunately though, libraries exist! And are for more than just books. They're also for movies, music, games, information exploration that isn't riddled with ads, events, and more.

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Valerie G.
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I still remember one boy in class ordered a book, when it came in the teacher held it up and said "Dave, here is your order "Fresh as a Daisy". (it was a book telling twelve year old girls what magic was going to happen to their developing bodies).

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B_Sirius
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You, too, can relive the joy of buying books via Scholastic flyer. Simply have children and wait six years. 📚 My kids brought flyers home last fall and I was more excited than they were.

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Tushar Roy Mukherjee
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We still have this at my School. Unfortunately, we are the last COVID batch to pass class 12, so were not allowed to order them before we left School.

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Cat
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They still do this, my little sister brought these home all the time from school begging to get the first book she saw w unicorns on it

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jdtimid123
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wish they had these for adults. There's too many choices now, I just need a small catalog to choose from 😅

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Lacy Somersville
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was always so excited but bummed bc I couldn't get all the books I wanted. It was always such a hard choice.

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Joshua David
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Heathcliff! My first school lunchbox! And thermos combo. I'm an 80s kid but was a teen in the 90s with a little brother then. Some of these are str8 80s.

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Mark Savoie
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is how I got my first copy of a still-owned, very-much-frayed copy of The Lord of the Rings. I have other copies now, 45 years later, but that first one has a place in my heart.

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Vasana Phong
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Scholastic, some years ago I saw an order form in a coworker’s desk who had young children

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And speaking of social media, you have probably seen how, for example, Meta products like Facebook and the aforementioned Instagram have “memory” functions that will randomly show you images from the past, normally on their one-year anniversary. This could of course be a bit misguided, as many people have documented randomly getting images from an illness or a breakup a year ago. 

Other companies do their best to tap into this feeling as well. The Nokia 3310 phone was legendary for a variety of reasons, but it seems its reputation for being indestructible goes beyond the physical, as the company relaunched it in 2017. The phone seems like stone-age technology compared to any random smartphone from the last few years, but people do want to relive that two-tone snake game and the feeling of pressing some buttons. 

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Tuesday's child
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not a 90s kid, but I still had to learn this. I barely know my times tabels but I do know how to play 'hot cross buns' on the recorder 😁

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Grudge-holding Treefrog
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The metal one at my elementary school had a 2 foot drop at the end. It was very dangerous, but so much fun! (Very few burns because of catholic school dress code)

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Upstaged75
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Those plastic jugs of brightly colored sugar water! I never saw them in anyone's home - they only showed up at school or parties.

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“Stranger Things” is another case-in-point, where much of the appeal is an idealized image of the 80s, alongside many of the tropes and cliches of 80s children's movies, such as the iconic “ET.” The show was a brilliant move by Netflix, as it managed to both attract gen x viewers who wanted to relive a past era while simultaneously creating nostalgia among younger viewers, a sort of self-perpetuating false memory of the past. 

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Mr.G86
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had to make sure every call made was worth it. Funny tho, cuz now I don't wanna call anyone, much less receive a call. 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

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K- THULU
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Computer lab? Jeez, at high school we got to look at the schools new computer.... Wasn't even turned on!

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Some specialists have started to develop a concept of “forestalgia,” which is a sort of hopeful belief that in some imagined future, many things will be better. While an idealized future has existed for centuries, the advent of science fiction has created multiple generations who actively think about what the next few decades will bring. 

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K- THULU
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, it's just anti cat propaganda put out by the pro rodent lobby....

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Zephyr
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Tip: play the actual movie on the end of the lane, cover the screens with acrylic glass though

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Audra Sisler
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was ALWAYS taking pictures in high school with camera like this! Such good times! 🥺

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Almarako94
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I loved how the series got better with every episode. Not like most shows today

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ƒιѕн
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9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sugar, spice, and everything nice These were the ingredients chosen To create the perfect little girl But Professor Utonium accidentally Added an extra ingredient to the concoction-- Chemical X Thus, The Powerpuff Girls were born Using their ultra-super powers Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup Have dedicated their lives to fighting crime And the forces of evil!

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Note: this post originally had 137 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.